Happy Sunday, everyone! It sure feels good to be back blogging after a three week hiatus. We’ve missed all our furiends! We definitely didn’t want to miss another Sunday Selfie again, so we’ve got Lucy and Dad in the hot seat today.
This gem was taken by Lucy with the help of my husband. Bobby works from home, so while I’m at work he frequently sends me pictures of the gang, and every now and then one of the pictures is a selfie. They are always the best. This selfie was especially heartwarming to see because we almost lost Lucy last week. To see that she is back to her usual self, hanging out with everyone, and looking happy and healthy is comforting.
Lucy has a chronic case of pancreatitis, which she was diagnosed with a few years ago. Her condition is maintained with a strict diet, but every now and then she has a flare up. Two weeks ago, she had one of those. We weren’t too concerned for the first couple of days because it seemed like she was having one of her usual flare ups, and we expected it to subside as it usually does. But after 3-4 days of throwing up 15-20 times a day, we started to worry. We took her to the vet, who gave her fluids and anti-vomiting medication. Unfortunately we saw no improvement, and we couldn’t get the medication into her system because she would throw it right back up. We returned to the vet, who gave Lucy more fluids and anti-vomiting medicine (by injection). He also did blood work and took X-rays. The blood work gave us hope, as it came back normal, and the X-rays showed us what we expected them to – an inflamed pancreas. Our vet still had hope of a recovery for Lucy and showed us how to give her subQ fluids at home. He also suggested not letting her eat or drink anything for 24 hours to give her system a break. We followed his directions and gave her the fluids for a couple of days but she still showed no signs of improvement.
Long story short, after 8 days of throwing up no less that 200 times (I wish I could say that was an exaggeration), Lucy had gone from 10 pounds to 7.8 pounds. She was skin and bones, hadn’t kept any food or water down in over a week, was weak and tired (I had to carry her down the steps of our back porch to go to the bathroom), and there was no end in sight. I knew that Lucy couldn’t go on like this for much longer, and I didn’t want her to suffer, so last Sunday my husband and I made the decision to take Lucy to the vet the next morning to help her cross over the Rainbow Bridge. That was the hardest decision I had ever made in my life, and one I’ve never had to make before. I’ve lost pets before, but they were either family pets when I was a kid or my parents’ pets – all cases in which I wasn’t the one making the decisions. Needless to say, I was a complete emotional mess.
I spent all day Sunday lying in bed with Lucy, holding her and comforting her, talking to her, telling her how much I loved her, apologizing for every time I had ever gotten annoyed with her, begging for one more adventure with her, one more belly rub, begging her to get well again….
I had given up on trying to feed her anymore, since she just threw up several times whenever she would eat. I didn’t want her to spend her last day throwing up constantly. However, Bobby decided to try to feed her again on Sunday evening. And she kept it down. Two hours later, he fed her another small meal. And she kept it down. Over the course of the evening, Lucy ate 4 little meals and didn’t throw up once. Monday morning came, and she continued to eat the small little meals we gave her, and she continued to keep them down. It was a miracle!
It has now been one week since that terrible day, and Lucy is going strong! She hasn’t thrown up again, and she’s been eating like a little piggy and playing like a little puppy. We are glad to have sweet Lucy back again and intend to spoil her rotten (not that we didn’t before) and take her on lots of special adventures. We look forward to celebrating her 16th birthday in May!
We are participating in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop hosted by The Cat on My Head. Click the badge to the left to see all of the other wonderful entries or to enter a selfie of your own!
toby & leia says
We are so glad she’s better! That was scary.
Summer says
Wow. I’m SO glad Lucy pulled through! I can only imagine what a wreck you must have been. I’m purring for Lucy to never have an episode like that ever again!
The Florida Furkids says
Oh wow….how scary but how wonderful that Lucy is so much better!!!!
The Florida Furkids
ps – you showed up in our feed this morning!
Brian Frum says
We are so glad that Lucy started eating again and that sweetie sure deserves some serious spoiling!
Sam says
YAY Lucy……how awful for all of you to have to watch her be so very sick and be so close to not making it only to bounce back – that girl has a will to live for sure and we hope she does for a VERY long time to come. I’m sending her special HUGS……
Love, Sammy
Tamago says
Oh gosh. I’m so sorry Lucy got so sick…to the point that you had to make such a devastating decision. But what a wonderful miracle she got better! So happy she is doing well now. I hope she gains her weight back and hopefully no more serious flare ups…! Happy Sunday and enjoy your beautiful day!
The Swiss Cats says
Scary ! We’re glad Lucy is feeling better now ! Purrs
The Daily Pip says
So glad Lucy started eating again. That’s truly amazing and I’m so happy you will all have more time together! Happy Sunday.
Ellen Pilch says
That is truly a miracle . I was afraid to keep reading, but I am glad I did. I will add Lucy to my prayer list.
Caren Gittleman says
I am so glad she is doing well now. I was afraid to keep reading too. I love how Delilah was taking care of her…so sweet! Continued prayers coming your way xoxoxo
Lola The Rescued Cat says
Yay! We are so glad Lucy is better! Paws crossed things continue to get better.
Melissa & Mudpie says
How heartbreaking and terrifying!!! Lucy is so lucky to have you, and many purrs that she continues to feel better!
BeadedTail says
We’re so glad Lucy pulled through that horrible situation and is happy once again! Sending many purrs and prayers for her!
The Island Cats says
Oh we’re so happy to hear Lucy is doing better now. We purr that she has no more problems. She really takes a great selfie.
angel Prancer Pie says
Last week must have been awful for all of you! We’re so happy that Lucy is doing better. Sending lots of purrs from all of us at Angel Prancer Pie.
Sandy says
Every extra minute we have is precious – glad Lucy is feeling better and hoping for no more bouts of pancreatitis!
Raven says
Oh my gosh, what a lucky turn-around for Lucy. I’m glad she’s doing so much better and you’ll have many more adventures and belly rubs.
meowmeowmans says
Thank goodness that Lucy is doing so well again. That must have been so scary. Please spoil that girlf for us, too, okay?
Kitties Blue says
Lucy, you are so adorable, especially in that final photo where you look so alert and well. And the photo of you with Sophie and her feet on your head, priceless. We know how happy the entire family is to have you well again. We’ll be purring that you stay that way for a very long time to come. Mom’s keeping you in her prayers, and we re sending the POTP. Our mom just sent your mom an e-mail. Astrid is sending Sampy a kiss for every woofie on the planet as well as all her love. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Fur Everywhere says
I didn’t realize she was that old. I am glad she is doing so much better! The first time I had to make that decision was for Jewel, and it is easily the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
I hope you won’t have to make that decision again for her or any of your other fur babies for a long, long time.
Pipo/Minko/MrJackFreckles says
Wow. OMC.
So glad that is ovfur fur now. How horrible it is to watch a fur baby suffer through an illness. We are so happy to see her all spunky and full of the spit and vinegar again.
Sending tons of POTP so she will stay well:))
Jean Dion says
Holy smokes, that is an amazing story! I’m so glad she made the decision to stay with you just a little longer. I hope she stays for a lot longer, in fact!
Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie